Sure, it might be misdirect but his energy is now in Kid Darkseid so that's unlikely. Or, he could just be brought back but with the finality of this death then where's the incentive to stick around for those fans of his? And, DC just gives up their copy of a Marvel cashcow? Well, there is the in media res first page foreshadowy tease.

DC's Hercules has never been a cashcow for DC. He's only been a supporting character or the occasional guest star. On top of all that, he's been a villain most of the time.

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Anyways, it was an interesting set up story with pretty good art. Good to see Grail back and surprising to see Darkseid is hitting puberty again as a growing boy! Say what?! How did that happen? (Hmm... how long ago did Marvel do this with their Zeus?) The aftermath scene with Diana and Steve was pretty generic after Wonder Woman defeated Giganta (disappointingly) with one punch at the end of a fight that started sometime BEFORE this issue. Curious to see that the Amazon is the beneficiary of Herc's estate. Guess we'll learn if they were aquainted in the new Rebirth canon.

I can live with the misdirect, but in this issue it finally confirms Diana's origins as being a daughter of Zeus and not created from clay. All of Greg Rucka's efforts to reboot Diana's origins are now made pretty pointless because if they were going to stick to the "daughter of Zeus crap" they had no need to hire Rucka to reboot Diana's origin when the New 52 origin was all DC needed! What was the point of rebooting her origin only to do a 180 turn around and say she's a daughter of Zeus?! It's pointless! I'll never understand why DC has to take away everything unique about Diana's "created from clay" origin. Making her a daughter of Zeus just makes her Hercules with boobs and a rip off of the character I just mentioned. And that right there robs Diana of any form of being unique.

If DC really is trying to restore the DC Universe back before it became the New 52, then Diana being a daughter of Zeus is even more confusing. Back when Hercules was posing as the mortal known as "Champion", he fell in love with Diana and couldn't go through with his revenge scheme because of it. While it's true Diana rejected his advances, it just creates a very awkward story that is better left forgotten. And that's just one example out of many I can name as to why her origin as a daughter of Zeus simply doesn't work. REALLY wish DC would WAKE UP and get rid of this.

Look at it impartially and "Daughter of Zeus" sounds rather grand and is an obvious way in which to sell the character to the masses. It also operates as a springboard for storylines and placing Wonder Woman within the complex family hierarchy and backstory of the Gods. And I can appreciate all of these reasons. But... all things considered it isn't really good for the character, certainly not in the longterm.

Wonder Woman has suffered a great deal since the early 1990's as successive regimes moved her further away from the everyday world Diana Prince lived in, and latterly Diana's life with the everyday Kapatelis family, and went off into the distant alien realms of Amazon/olympian mythology and therefore further away from ordinary everday people and situations. It didn't do the character any favours as she became aloof and altogether superior to the everyday folks, barely human, to the point she became willing to kill and showed no regrets or due reflection at doing so.
And here we are. Reconfirmed as a Goddess rather than an Amazon, another storyline concerning Gods and mythology, and this time she has a sword.

In its favor though the new regime has at least Steve Trevor to act as moral compass and earthly tether to both Amazon goddess and reader alike...

Available to Read, for Free! Fantasy Express #5. Go Back to 1983 - and meet Alan Moore in full, Read all about Countdown, And then there's Johnny Future...